27th May 2014 Academy Discourse: The date of Hammurabi

In the 2nd millennium BC Hammurabi became king of Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq, Kuwait, the northeastern section of Syria and parts of Turkey and Iran). The chronology of Mesopotamia in the 2nd Millennium still differ by more than 150 years. This has prevented us from understanding the relationship between climate change and the serve crisis at the end of the Hammurabi dynasty which saw the cities of southern Babylonia abandoned.

This discourse will explore the Venus observations which were first recognized in 1860, the Assyrian eclipse record, the dendrochronology (dating based on the analysis of patterns of tree rings) and the record of a worldwide tree growth anomaly that have contributed to finding the correct dates and help to understand this chapter in history.

“One might say that the purpose of the scientific schools of the Institute is to play a small but effective part in trying to satisfy man’s insatiable desire to understand how nature works” - J.L. Synge Senior, Professor at @StpDias from 1948–1972 #DIASdiscovers

The DIAS School of Celtic Studies @SCSLibrary trace the development of Celtic languages through a study of its different stages of attestation from earliest times to the spoken languages of today. Tuilleadh eolais ar an scoil le fáil anseo: twitter.com/SCSLibrary#DIASdiscovers

In 2012, we launched the Irish Astronomy Trail, which links all the key astronomy sites on the island of Ireland and is a cross-border initiative with the Armagh Observatory. Find out about the trail here: astronomytrail.ie#DIASdiscovers

When sitting down to dinner on the 25th, spare a thought for the 1st astronauts in space at #Christmas who settled down to hot cocoa, cookies, corn chowder, chicken and gravy. Find out about the first Christmas in space aboard Apollo 8 at ietv.co/2EdRJ7s. #DIASdiscovers

Don't forget that the "Forecasting the Unpredictable: earthquake science in a crowded world" public lecture is being given tomorrow in @tcddublin by Professor John McCloskey, Chair in Natural Hazards Science at @EdinburghUni. All info at bit.ly/2QphEQJ. #DIASdiscovers